Buttons handed out in Berne © Amnesty International
By Christine Heller, a Sri Lanka Coordinator for Amnesty International in Switzerland.
I’ve just come back from our Sri Lanka action in Berne. The sun was out and there were about 40 activists handing out solidarity buttons reading “unlock the camps” in Tamil, as well as postcards featuring the poem “Broken Pottu” by Mahesh Munasinghe, inspired by the plight of children held in the camps.
Continue reading ‘Giving out solidarity buttons in Switzerland’
People displaced by armed conflict, northern Sri Lanka, 26 April 2009. © Private
By Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s researcher on Sri Lanka.
Six months ago the Government of Sri Lanka announced that war in Sri Lanka was finally over. Victory seemed sweet to ordinary Sri Lankans in the south. The deliberate killing of civilians by Tamil Tiger suicide bombers polarized communities and bred real fear that conflict could leak into ordinary life and affect anyone at any time.
Triumphalism about the elimination of the Tamil Tiger leadership led to dancing in the streets of Colombo. What was forgotten in the moment of victory was the suffering of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict and now unlawfully detained in camps in the north east.
Continue reading ‘Six months of suffering in the Sri Lanka camps’
Amnesty International activists raise banners in support of the Sri Lankan displaced.
By Tim Molyneux, a volunteer working in Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka team.
On Monday night I took part in a big event to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in Sri Lanka currently confined in mass detention camps.
This marked the first day of an international week of action in support of the ‘Unlock the Camps’ campaign, calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure safety and dignity for all displaced people in Sri Lanka.
Continue reading ‘Standing in solidarity with displaced people in Sri Lanka’
By Colby Goodman, Amnesty International’s Control Arms Campaign
October 7, 2009 – On a day the New York Times exposed more details about Guinean security forces recent use of weapons against thousands of peaceful protestors, Amnesty International participated in what turned out to be an electrified briefing at the United Nations (UN) about preventing the use of arms for serious human rights violations and the need for an Arms Trade Treaty.
Continue reading ‘UN discussions on an Arms Trade Treaty’
Grande finale of the Amnesty International caravan ©Amnesty International
Today was the final day of the caravan. We drove from Bo to Waterloo, a town on the outskirts of Freetown. After a quick radio interview for the musicians, we assembled in the field and prepared for the event.
The hot sun was beaming down on the caravan stage and the crowd was scattered on the outskirts of the field, watching the introductions from a distance. Just when we thought we would collapse from heat exhaustion, the sky started rumbling and the rain poured down.
When it rains in Sierra Leone it really does pour, but it was such sweet relief from the sun that we all stayed outside and relished it. Just as quickly, the rain disappeared, the clouds parted and the show continued. At the end of the event, Brima (Sierra Leone Director) acknowledged all the participants on the caravan and we all went on stage to sing the maternal mortality song.
Continue reading ‘The end of the Sierra Leone caravan’
